Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie

The IMMB has a long tradition of research in applied microbiology and biotechnology, and currently harbours 4 groups (Prof. Fetzner, Prof. Berg, Prof. Philipp, Prof. Schmid). All of them investigate basic and applied aspects of microbiology and enzymology. Many projects are related to  biotechnological processes. Targeted molecules are biopolymers such as polysaccharides,  polyesters and lipids. Other compounds, such as steroids, heteroaromatic molecules and aromatic flavors are  produced by fermentation, enzymatic reaction cascades or biotransformation. New pathways e.g., for  CO2-fixation are analysed in the context of bioeconomy research. Metabolic and enzyme as well as  strain engineering are the main strengths of the institute. The bioreactor laboratory allows process  optimization (parallel fermentations) and scale-up (500-L), so that novel compounds can be produced at the kilogram scale.